Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Peanut butter and chocolate, the perfect pair. This past weekend was spent browsing through cookbooks and foodie magazines. The inspiration for this cookie comes from the Bouchon Bakery book where they did their take on an oreo with perfect scalloped chocolate shortbreads. The cookies were gorgeous to look at. I wanted to do my take on the “reese peanut butter cup” and alas this chocolate peanut butter cookie recipe was born. With this recipe, it’s peanut butter frosting and a dollop of rich chocolate ganache sandwiched between two crunchy cocoa cookies. I went a little camera happy this time and this post is filled with lots of pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients for cocoa cookies:

1 1/3 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup cake flour

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter + 1 tbls.

2 egg yolks

Ingredients for peanut butter frosting:

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened

2/3 cup confectioners sugar

2/3 cup peanut butter

Ingredients for chocolate ganache:

4 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

First start by making the dough for the cocoa cookies. In the bowl of a standing mixer combine both flours, the cocoa powder, confectioners sugar, and salt. Mix on the lowest setting for 30 seconds. Cut 1 cup of the butter into 1/3″ inch thick pieces and gradually place into the mixer with the speed on low (reserve the additional tablespoon of butter for greasing the pans later). Continue to mix for 3-4 minutes or until the butter is well incorporated, the texture will be similar to that of sand. Add in the two egg yolks and mix until the dough comes together completely. Spoon dough onto a piece of cellophane, flatten into a disk shape, wrap with the cellophane and put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to chill.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Remove dough from refrigerator, lightly flour your workspace and roll dough until it is 1/8″ in thickness. Cut out circular shapes. Reroll any scraps until you have about 40 circular cookies. Grease the bottom of a large cookie sheet with the additional tbls of butter and place the cookies onto the cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove, let cool slightly on the pan and then place cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the peanut butter frosting, place the butter into the bowl of a standing mix and mix on high speed for 5-7 minutes or until the butter is light and fluffy. Add in the confectioners sugar and again mix on high speed for 1-2 minutes. Finally, add in the peanut butter and mix on high speed until well incorporated. Transfer to a piping bag or a ziplock back with the corner cut out and put aside until the cookies are ready to be assembled.

To make the ganache, place the chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Place the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and allow to come to a simmer. Once the cream is simmering, pour over the chocolate and immediately cover with saran wrap. let the cream and chocolate sit for 10 minutes and then whisk the two together. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.

To assemble the cookies, pipe a wreath shape on the backs of half of your cookies. Fill each center of the wreath with a dollop of ganache. Place the remaining cookies on top to form “sandwiches”. Enjoy!